Methods and apparatus for lost connection handling

ABSTRACT

A computer-implemented method, executable by a vehicle computing system (VCS), includes determining that a connection between a wireless device and a VCS has been lost. The method further includes determining if a driver is present in the vehicle, upon a lost link detection. The method additionally includes waiting until an enter-event occurs and then attempting to re-establish a connection between the wireless device and the VCS. This last step may be conditional upon a determination that a driver is not present.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The illustrative embodiments generally relate to methods and apparatusesfor handling a lost connection between a wireless device and a vehiclecomputing system.

BACKGROUND

BLUETOOTH communication systems provide the ability to wirelesslyconnect a plurality of devices to each other, but a limitation on such anetwork is generally that it has a smaller range than more conventionalwireless networks. As a result, if two devices in communication over aBLUETOOTH network, for example, a vehicle computing system and awireless mobile device, are separated by more than a certain distance,the signal between those devices may be lost. In the preceding example,a driver stopping to get gasoline, for example, and leaving theproximity of the vehicle, may break a BLUETOOTH connection to thevehicle.

Additionally, vehicle computing systems may have no current method forhandling an upcoming disconnect, since the system may not be aware thata disconnect is about to ensue until the connection is actually broken.Data transfer can thus be abruptly interrupted, or applications runningin conjunction with the vehicle computing system can have theirfunctionality interrupted.

SUMMARY

In a first illustrative embodiment, a computer-implemented method,executable by a vehicle computing system (VCS), includes determiningthat a connection between a wireless device and a VCS has been lost. Theillustrative method further includes, upon a lost link detection,determining if a driver is present in the vehicle. The illustrativemethod additionally includes waiting until an enter-event occurs andthen attempting to re-establish a connection between the wireless deviceand the VCS. This last step may be conditional upon a determination thata driver is not present.

In a second illustrative embodiment, a computer readable storage mediumstores instructions that when executed by a vehicle computing system(VCS) cause the vehicle computing system to perform the method includingdetermining that a connection between a wireless device and a VCS hasbeen lost. The illustrative process also includes, upon a lost linkdetection, determining if a driver is present in the vehicle. Theillustrative process further includes waiting until an enter-eventoccurs and then attempting to re-establish a connection between thewireless device and the VCS, conditional upon a determination that adriver is not present.

In a third illustrative embodiment, a computer-implemented method,executable by a vehicle computing system (VCS), includes detecting thata vehicle transmission is in a park state. The illustrative method alsoincludes determining if a connectable device, not currently connected tothe VCS, is present within a detection range.

The illustrative method includes detecting an exit-event and detecting aconnection loss between a first connected device and the VCS. Theillustrative method also include transferring a connection to theconnectable device once the exit-event and the connection loss have beendetected and conditional on the determination that the connectabledevice is present within the detection range.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative example of a vehicle associated computingsystem;

FIG. 2 shows an illustrative example of a process for link lossmanagement triggered by a lost link;

FIG. 3 shows an illustrative example of a process for link lossmanagement triggered by a driver-exit event;

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative example of a process for determining adriver-exit event; and

FIG. 5 shows an illustrative example of a data transfer (or usage)management process.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosedherein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodimentsare merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in variousand alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; somefeatures may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particularcomponents. Therefore, specific structural and functional detailsdisclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as arepresentative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variouslyemploy the present invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example block topology for a vehicle basedcomputing system 1 (VCS) for a vehicle 31. An example of such avehicle-based computing system 1 is the SYNC system manufactured by THEFORD MOTOR COMPANY. A vehicle enabled with a vehicle-based computingsystem may contain a visual front end interface 4 located in thevehicle. The user may also be able to interact with the interface if itis provided, for example, with a touch sensitive screen. In anotherillustrative embodiment, the interaction occurs through, button presses,audible speech and speech synthesis.

In the illustrative embodiment 1 shown in FIG. 1, a processor 3 controlsat least some portion of the operation of the vehicle-based computingsystem. Provided within the vehicle, the processor allows onboardprocessing of commands and routines. Further, the processor is connectedto both non-persistent 5 and persistent storage 7. In this illustrativeembodiment, the non-persistent storage is random access memory (RAM) andthe persistent storage is a hard disk drive (HDD) or flash memory.

The processor is also provided with a number of different inputsallowing the user to interface with the processor. In this illustrativeembodiment, a microphone 29, an auxiliary input 25 (for input 33), a USBinput 23, a GPS input 24 and a BLUETOOTH input 15 are all provided. Aninput selector 51 is also provided, to allow a user to swap betweenvarious inputs. Input to both the microphone and the auxiliary connectoris converted from analog to digital by a converter 27 before beingpassed to the processor. Although not shown, numerous of the vehiclecomponents and auxiliary components in communication with the VCS mayuse a vehicle network (such as, but not limited to, a CAN bus) to passdata to and from the VCS (or components thereof).

Outputs to the system can include, but are not limited to, a visualdisplay 4 and a speaker 13 or stereo system output. The speaker isconnected to an amplifier 11 and receives its signal from the processor3 through a digital-to-analog converter 9. Output can also be made to aremote BLUETOOTH device such as PND 54 or a USB device such as vehiclenavigation device 60 along the bi-directional data streams shown at 19and 21 respectively.

In one illustrative embodiment, the system 1 uses the BLUETOOTHtransceiver 15 to communicate 17 with a user's nomadic device 53 (e.g.,cell phone, smart phone, PDA, or any other device having wireless remotenetwork connectivity). The nomadic device can then be used tocommunicate 59 with a network 61 outside the vehicle 31 through, forexample, communication 55 with a cellular tower 57. In some embodiments,tower 57 may be a WiFi access point.

Exemplary communication between the nomadic device and the BLUETOOTHtransceiver is represented by signal 14.

Pairing a nomadic device 53 and the BLUETOOTH transceiver 15 can beinstructed through a button 52 or similar input. Accordingly, the CPU isinstructed that the onboard BLUETOOTH transceiver will be paired with aBLUETOOTH transceiver in a nomadic device.

Data may be communicated between CPU 3 and network 61 utilizing, forexample, a data-plan, data over voice, or DTMF tones associated withnomadic device 53. Alternatively, it may be desirable to include anonboard modem 63 having antenna 18 in order to communicate 16 databetween CPU 3 and network 61 over the voice band. The nomadic device 53can then be used to communicate 59 with a network 61 outside the vehicle31 through, for example, communication 55 with a cellular tower 57. Insome embodiments, the modem 63 may establish communication 20 with thetower 57 for communicating with network 61. As a non-limiting example,modem 63 may be a USB cellular modem and communication 20 may becellular communication.

In one illustrative embodiment, the processor is provided with anoperating system including an API to communicate with modem applicationsoftware. The modem application software may access an embedded moduleor firmware on the BLUETOOTH transceiver to complete wirelesscommunication with a remote BLUETOOTH transceiver (such as that found ina nomadic device).

In another embodiment, nomadic device 53 includes a modem for voice bandor broadband data communication. In the data-over-voice embodiment, atechnique known as frequency division multiplexing may be implementedwhen the owner of the nomadic device can talk over the device while datais being transferred. At other times, when the owner is not using thedevice, the data transfer can use the whole bandwidth (300 Hz to 3.4 kHzin one example).

If the user has a data-plan associated with the nomadic device, it ispossible that the data-plan allows for broad-band transmission and thesystem could use a much wider bandwidth (speeding up data transfer). Instill another embodiment, nomadic device 53 is replaced with a cellularcommunication device (not shown) that is installed to vehicle 31. In yetanother embodiment, the ND 53 may be a wireless local area network (LAN)device capable of communication over, for example (and withoutlimitation), an 802.11g network (i.e., WiFi) or a WiMax network.

In one embodiment, incoming data can be passed through the nomadicdevice via a data-over-voice or data-plan, through the onboard BLUETOOTHtransceiver and into the vehicle's internal processor 3. In the case ofcertain temporary data, for example, the data can be stored on the HDDor other storage media 7 until such time as the data is no longerneeded.

Additional sources that may interface with the vehicle include apersonal navigation device 54, having, for example, a USB connection 56and/or an antenna 58; or a vehicle navigation device 60, having a USB 62or other connection, an onboard GPS device 24, or remote navigationsystem (not shown) having connectivity to network 61.

Further, the CPU could be in communication with a variety of otherauxiliary devices 65. These devices can be connected through a wireless67 or wired 69 connection. Also, or alternatively, the CPU could beconnected to a vehicle based wireless router 73, using for example aWiFi 71 transceiver. This could allow the CPU to connect to remotenetworks in range of the local router 73. Auxiliary device 65 mayinclude, but are not limited to, personal media players, wireless healthdevices, portable computers, and the like.

Although the following describes the invention in terms of illustrativeembodiments, these examples are provided for non-limiting illustrativepurposes only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventionthereto.

In at least one illustrative embodiment, through the use of sensorsbuilt into vehicles, it is possible for a vehicle computing system toanticipate when a connection to a wireless device may be lost, and totake steps necessary to address any issues this may cause. Further, if alink is lost, the vehicle is capable of recognizing that the device towhich the connection was lost is likely not within connectable range,and thus attempts to reconnect can be suspended until the device is backwithin range. Additionally, if a signal is repeatedly lost due to apoorly working wireless connection, a user may instruct the vehicle tocontinue efforts to connect, or to alternatively try another device thatmay be present.

A variety of vehicle sensors may be used to “guess” that a driver orpassenger is no longer present in the vehicle. Seat pressure sensors,vehicle cockpit cameras, door opening detection mechanisms, key-outdetection mechanisms and other sensors all feed information into one ormore vehicle networks, such as, but not limited to, the CAN bus. Fromthese networks, a vehicle computing system can pull sensor data anddetermine, for example, the likelihood a driver has left the vehicle.

In certain circumstances it may be useful to be able to anticipate anupcoming link loss between a vehicle computing system and a connectedwireless device. For example, if data is being transferred from a remotesource, through the wireless device, to the vehicle computing system,the vehicle computing system may want to take steps to continue (usingan alternative connection) or resiliently pause the data transfer, sothat the entire process doesn't have to be repeated when the connectionto the wireless device is re-established.

More generally, there is no reason to waste vehicle resources searchingfor a lost link, if the vehicle has reason to “believe” that a driver isout of range of the vehicle. In systems where a vehicle records a numberof failed connect attempts (in order, for example, to establish theexistence of a poorly working link), connection attempts that failbecause a device is out of range should not be counted. By pausing areconnection attempt until one or more sensors indicates a likelihoodthat a wireless device possessor is back within a vehicle, the system iscapable of distinguishing between the two situations.

FIG. 2 shows an illustrative example of a process for link lossmanagement triggered by a lost link. In this illustrative embodiment, avehicle computing system first detects a link loss and then checks oneor more vehicle sensors to determine if a driver (or passenger) islikely present.

First, the system loses a connection to a connected wireless device 201.As previously noted, this is often a BLUETOOTH connection, but anysuitable wireless connection may be established and lost. Once theconnection is lost, the system attempts to distinguish between a faultyconnection (or a powered-down device) and an unavailable connection(due, for example, to driver proximity).

In this illustrative example, the system checks one or more vehiclesensors that may tend to indicate the presence or absence of a driver.For example, a weight sensor in a driver seat may generally tend toindicate that a driver is present if weight over a certain level issensed. Alternatively, a key-on or key-in sensor may typically indicatethe presence of a driver. Also, if the vehicle is in gear or in motion,then it is hoped that a driver is present. A cockpit camera that can seethe driver is another sensor that may be considered to detect thepresence of a driver. Additionally, if a driver's side door is currentlyopen, then it may be an indication that the driver is not in thevehicle.

If the driver is not determined to be present (through the use of one ormore sensors, alone or in combination), then the vehicle computingsystem goes into a waiting state 207, until a driver-in event is sensed.The driver-in event can be sensed through use of the same sensorspreviously described, or through any other reasonable sensor usable fordriver-exit and driver-in detection, such as, but not limited to, a dooropen sensor. If the door having been left in an open state was alreadyused to detect the absence of a driver, then the system may need to usethe fact that the door has been changed to a closed state as evidence ofthe presence of a driver. Since this could occur in other circumstances(a stranger or another passenger closes the door), the system may wantto check at least one other indicator as well.

Once a suitable driver-in event has been established, or if the driverwas determined never to have left the vehicle in the first place, thevehicle computing system attempts to re-connect 209 to the wirelessdevice. If the system reaches a point where connection is still notestablished after a certain number of attempts 211, the system notifiesthe driver that a bad connection may be present 217. Since the device towhich the system is attempting to connect may be the only wirelessdevice present, and since the driver may want or need the dataconnection, even if spotty, the driver, in this example, is given theoption to continue to attempt to connect 219.

If another device is present, or if the driver otherwise instructs thecessation of the connection attempt, the process exits. If the driverwishes the attempts to continue, a flag is set 221 so that the processdoesn't harass the driver each time the attempt to connect continues tofail and the count is over a certain point.

FIG. 3 shows an illustrative example of a process for link lossmanagement triggered by a driver-exit event. In this illustrativeembodiment, before detecting a link loss, the vehicle detects adriver-exit event 301. Once the event is detected, the vehicle registersthe occurrence of the event for later use (if, for example, a link islost).

As previously noted, driver exit events can be detected through avariety of vehicle sensors. The events can include the detection of adoor opening, a key off/out, a lack of weight detected by a seat sensor,etc.

At some point after a driver-exit event has been detected andregistered, a link loss is detected 303. In this illustrativeembodiment, the system checks to see if the driver is present or not305, which may simply be a reference to the registered state of thedriver-exit event (e.g., has one occurred). If the driver is present(i.e., if the driver never left the vehicle or if a driver has reenteredthe vehicle 307, a reconnection attempt is made 309. In this embodiment,if the reconnection is unsuccessful, the system notifies the driver 313and then exits. The system does not spool repeatedly, attempting toreconnect.

Further, since this exemplary process is triggered by the detection andregistration of a driver-exit event, step 305 may be omitted, since itcan be assumed that the event which triggered the process indicated thatthe driver is not present. In an alternative embodiment, step 307 cansimply supplant step 305.

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative example of a process for determining adriver-exit event. In this illustrative embodiment, as a safetyprecaution, the vehicle computing system first checks to see if anemergency event has occurred 401. If so, a special emergency conditionflag will be set, and the vehicle computing system will be preventedfrom pausing reconnection attempts 403. The vehicle computing systemgoes into a state where it attempts to connect with any availabledevice, in order to place an emergency call.

Since at least one sensor, such as the seat weight sensor, relies on thepresence of a person, then in the event a driver has been thrown from avehicle far enough to lose a connection, and has crawled back to withinconnection range, it would not be beneficial to have the system pausereconnection attempts. Thus, although not necessary, it is recommendedthat this or a similar safety consideration be included.

If no emergency condition is present, the system then checks if thePRNDL is in park 405. As previously noted, if the vehicle is not inpark, it is hoped that the driver is in the vehicle, and thus theprocess exits 407, since it assumes that an exit event has not occurred(at least, not under normal conditions where reconnection suspensionwould be a desirable course of action).

Next, in this illustrative example, the vehicle computing system checksto see if a door has been opened 409. If the check is being made for adriver, this would correspond to a check on a driver's side door. If thecheck was being made for a passenger, this would correspond to a checkon a passenger door. If no door has opened, the system checks to see ifa seat sensor (such as, but not limited to, a weight sensor) has beentriggered or is off 411. Again, various seats can be checked based onwho the check is being made for.

If the seat sensor still shows weight (or doesn't exist) the system maycheck a cockpit camera 413, a key on/off in/out status 415, or any othersuitable sensor not shown, for determining driver/passengerpresence/absence. If any sensor (or combination of sensors, if that isdetermined to be more definitive) indicates that a passenger is notpresent, the system registers an exit-vehicle event 417. If all sensorsindicate the presence of the party for whom the detection was attempted,the system simply exits.

FIG. 5 shows an illustrative example of a data transfer (or usage)management process. In this illustrative embodiment, a vehicleassociated computing system detects that a vehicle has been placed inpark 501. While not definitive, this is an indication that the vehicle'spower may soon be disabled. Other suitable detections may also be used.

In this illustrative embodiment, the vehicle connects to a second deviceif a data transfer is currently in progress and connection to the firstdevice is lost. This allows the transfer to complete even in the absenceof the first connection. If a second device is not present, the transferwill be paused until the initial connection is resumed.

Once the vehicle is in park, the system checks to see if any additionalavailable devices are available for pairing (other than the device withwhich the vehicle is presently paired) 503. For example, the vehicle maycurrently be paired with a driver's device, but a passenger may also becarrying a wireless device with which the vehicle can pair.

If a secondary device is present, the vehicle associated computingsystem may check information that it has stored related to the seconddevice 505 to determine if the second device is capable of completingthe transfer 507. For example, the transfer may require a data plan tocomplete (due to an imposed constraint, for example) and the seconddevice may or may not have a data plan associated therewith.

If the second device is capable, the system may prepare to either pause509 or swap 511 the data transfer. The swap may, of course, also requirea pause while the new connection is established. At this point, thesystem waits to see if an exit event (further signaling a likely loss ofconnection) occurs 513.

Exit events can include, but are not limited to, opening of a door, avehicle camera detecting an occupant is no longer present, a seat sensordetecting an occupant is no longer present, etc. If an exit event is notdetected, and the vehicle resumes travel, the process may exit and thetransfer/pause setup may be abated.

When an exit event is detected, if a second device is present, thesystem checks for a second exit event 515. A second exit event mayindicate that a secondary device has also left the vehicle. In thisillustrative embodiment, the process assumes that a second exit eventcorresponds to both wireless devices leaving the vehicle, althoughfurther logic could be employed to determine whether or not thesecondary device has actually left the vehicle.

If there is no second exit event, then the system will check to see ifthe primary signal is lost 517. If the primary signal is not lost, thesystem continues to check for a secondary exit event (or exits theprocess, for example, if the vehicle resumes travel without loss ofprimary signal).

If the signal is lost, the system connects to the secondary device andany data transfer in progress can be resumed by the secondary device519.

If there was no additional device present, the transfer is prepared forpause 521. The process then waits until a signal is lost 523. If thesignal is not lost, and the vehicle resumes travel, the process mayterminate without pausing any data transfer that may be present.

If the signal is lost 523, the process may pause any transfers that arecurrently in progress, in a manner that allows the transfer to beresumed as is appropriate for a given transfer. The pause 525 maycontinue until an enter event is detected 527. Enter events are similarin nature to exit events, and may include, but are not limited to, adoor opening, a camera detecting a passenger, a seat sensor detecting apassenger, a seat belt buckling, etc.

Once the enter event has been detected, the system begins looking for aconnection availability to the originally connected device 529. Once asignal has been found, allowing reconnection to the primary device, theconnection is established and any transfers (or other paused processes)may be resumed 531.

In this particular illustrative embodiment, connection is notre-established with the primary device until an enter event has beendetected. This may be useful in scenarios such as a gas stationscenario, where a driver may move in and out of proximity to a system,and a connection might be established and dropped repeatedly. Since, inthis embodiment, the enter event triggers the reconnection, thisincreases the likelihood that a connection that should endure will beestablished as the driver has likely re-entered the vehicle.

While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended thatthese embodiments describe all possible forms of the invention. Rather,the words used in the specification are words of description rather thanlimitation, and it is understood that various changes may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.Additionally, the features of various implementing embodiments may becombined to form further embodiments of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method, executable by avehicle computing system (VCS), comprising: determining that aconnection between a cellular phone and a VCS has been lost; upon a lostlink detection, determining, via the VCS, if a driver is present in thevehicle; and conditional upon a determination that a driver is notpresent, waiting until an enter-event occurs and then attempting tore-establish a connection between the cellular phone and the VCS.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the determining if a driver is present in thevehicle includes determining if a vehicle is in drive to determine if adriver is present.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the enter-eventincludes a driver-door opening event.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: conditional on a loss of connection and a determination thata driver is present in the vehicle when the connection is lost,attempting to re-establish the connection between the VCS and thecellular phone, wherein, if more than a predetermined number ofreconnection attempts have failed, the driver is notified of the failureand asked if connection attempts should continue; and conditional on anoccupant indicating that attempts should continue, attempting toreconnect to the cellular phone until a connection is established.
 5. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium, storing instructionsthat, when executed by a vehicle computing system (VCS), cause thevehicle computing system to perform the method comprising: determiningthat a connection between a cellular phone and a VCS has been lost; upona lost link detection, determining if a driver is present in thevehicle; and conditional upon a determination that a driver is notpresent, waiting until an enter-event occurs and then attempting tore-establish a connection between the cellular phone and the VCS.
 6. Thecomputer-readable storage medium of claim 5, wherein the determining ifa driver is present in the vehicle includes determining if a vehicle isin drive to determine if a driver is present.
 7. The computer-readablestorage medium of claim 5, wherein the enter-event includes adriver-door opening event.
 8. The computer-readable storage medium ofclaim 5, wherein the method further comprises: conditional on a loss ofconnection and a determination that a driver is present in the vehiclewhen the connection is lost, attempting to re-establish the connectionbetween the VCS and the wireless device, wherein, if more than apredetermined number of re-connection attempts have failed, the driveris notified of the failure and asked if connection attempts shouldcontinue; and conditional on an occupant indicating that attempts shouldcontinue, attempting to reconnect to the cellular phone until aconnection is established.